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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Transforming Tuesdays:Recognize Your Purpose Driven Life

Finally we are in the book of Matthew, which talks about the
birth of Jesus the Messiah! I cannot wait until we get deeper into this
book. In Matthew Chapter 1, we see the
lineage from Abraham to Jesus. The story
of the birth of Jesus in itself is absolutely amazing. I remember learning this story in Sunday
School, but reading it today, I was able to grasp the full concept of who Jesus
is and what he represents.

The Bible says that Mary and Joseph were basically scheduled
to be married, but before that happened she found out that she was pregnant
with the Holy Spirit. Now I don’t know
about you, but I know that I could not even fathom going to my parents claiming
to be a virgin, while with child.
However, the thought of this doesn’t matter because God didn’t choose me
to conceive Jesus. Just as my previous
thought process, Joseph could not understand how Mary was pregnant and the
Bible mentions that he had secret plans to divorce her. Now when I first read this I felt so bad, but
honestly how many times do we see broken families because spouses refuse to
raise children that aren’t their own??? Sadly it happens far too often. How many of you would raise a child that is
not yours if you were told that the child would be GREAT? I bet that changes things. This too changed things for Joseph because an
angel visited him in his dream where he was told not to leave Mary and that her
son was conceived from the Holy Spirit.
From there the angel told Joseph to name the baby Jesus because he will
deliver the people [us] from their sins.
Thank you JESUS! Joseph was
obedient and from there he took Mary as his wife.

Do you know what purpose means? Webster’s Dictionary defines
it as: something set up as an object
or end to be attained;
intention; resolution; determination. Jesus was born with a purpose driven
life. The beauty in this is that we are
all born with purpose driven lives. Now
none of us are born from virgins but when God created us, he did so with
purpose in mind and I pray that we all fulfill our purposes before he wants his
angels [us] back. Jesus had the task of
saving us from our sins, which meant that he would have to die a brutal death all
for you and me. Although I am not a parent,
I consider myself THE WORLD’S BEST/GREATEST AUNT (my nephew & neice tell me
that) and I could not imagine the thought of them being subject to pain because
of the actions of others, especially if those same people refused to
acknowledge who they are. I will just
let that thought sink in because I don’t want to address future reading. With that being said Jesus was born with an
ultimate goal where he proved to be the ultimate sacrifice.

I feel like we, as Christians get a little confused with
purpose. I say this to say that we often
forget that with purpose comes direction, and with direction comes rules and
guidelines that we are all subject to.
Exodus 20-21 illustrates the furtherance of Moses’s purpose through the
Ten Commandments. This was the first
time that we see God enforcing a law system.
These commandments offer guidance and direction for spiritual living and
moral conduct. They are as follows:

1.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Only trust in God

2.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

Don’t worship idols

3.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in
vain.

Respect God and the things of God

4.
Remember the sabbeth day, and keep it holy.

Take time to reflect and pray

5.
Honour thy father and thy mother.

Respect your elders

6.
Thou shalt not kill.

Don’t kill and respect all life, because God created
them

7.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Respect sex and marriage

8.
Thou shalt not steal.

Don’t take what doesn’t belong to you, and be honest

9.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor.

Be true and honest even if you have to stand alone,
because God is by your side

10.
Thou shalt not covet.

Only desire what God wants for you

These commandments we put in place after the Israelites were freed from
slavery and wondering into the wilderness under the direction of Moses. If you violate one of the Ten Commandments,
then you have committed a sin [we all have].
However, you are encouraged to repent for those sins once you do; and
remember that every sin carries the same weight in the eyes of God. It is man that places different levels of
punishment on humans. For instance, if I
were to lie and my neighbor were to kill, to God that is the same thing. Unfortunately, society places a higher
punishment on someone who chooses to kill.
At the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, God’s law
governs.

Are you living your purpose driven life?
Do you know what purpose means? Do you know your purpose? Are you seeking direction and guidance? Are you following the rules and guidelines? I can promise you that if you don’t know what
your purpose is, that if you seek God you will find out exactly what it
is. It’s okay not to know now because a
lot of us don’t know, but as long as you let God use you just as Joseph, Mary,
Aaron, and Moses, God will deliver his end of the bargain.

FIND YOUR PURPOSE GREATNESS IN THE LORD AWAITS YOU :)

Transforming Tuesdays: Jamera

Melinda Watts - Purpose Driven Life

Also if you are looking for more guidance in living your purpose driven life, please check out a book titled, "Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. It is absolutely excellent and I was first introduced to its impact when I would attend a Bible Study given by my Uncle with numerous other young adults. It is truly powerful.

Thank you Jamera!!! This was awesome. Still working on fully identifying my purpose. Also, I feel that as we allow God to lead us, He will continue to guide us. I also believe that He will put us to different tasks which will fully prepare us for our true purpose. Thank you for this reminder. And I'm very excited for what's to come with the readings.